Is There Really an Evolved Capacity for Number?

Núñez, Rafael

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2017.03.005

Cited by 139 publications

(132 citation statements)

References 79 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

125

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…on the issue in Behavioral and Brain Sciences garnered responses from nearly 30 research groups ranging from straightforward agreements to dismissals, and provides a lengthy discussion of the evidence against the existence of a number sense. In another recent review that questions the idea of an evolved capacity for number, Núñez takes issue with the very term “number sense” as a teleological construct. Núñez makes the point that humans have biologically evolved precursors for quantity discrimination, but that discrete, symbolic number is a cultural invention ( quantical versus numerical , Fig.…”

Section: Challenge 1: Number Sense No Such Thingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging the neurobiological link between number sense and symbolic numerical abilities

Wilkey

Ansari

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A significant body of research links individual differences in symbolic numerical abilities, such as arithmetic, to number sense, the neurobiological system used to approximate and manipulate quantities without language or symbols. However, recent findings from cognitive neuroscience challenge this influential theory. Our current review presents an overview of evidence for the number sense account of symbolic numerical abilities and then reviews recent studies that challenge this account, organized around the following four assertions. (1) There is no number sense as traditionally conceived. (2) Neural substrates of number sense are more widely distributed than common consensus asserts, complicating the neurobiological evidence linking number sense to numerical abilities. (3) The most common measures of number sense are confounded by other cognitive demands, which drive key correlations. (4) Number sense and symbolic number systems (Arabic digits, number words, and so on) rely on distinct neural mechanisms and follow independent developmental trajectories. The review follows each assertion with comments on future directions that may bring resolution to these issues.

show abstract

Section: Challenge 1: Number Sense No Such Thingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging the neurobiological link between number sense and symbolic numerical abilities

Wilkey

Ansari

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…An alternate view however is that there is no biologically evolved capacity for number and that the ANS is only tangentially or indirectly related to symbolic mathematical ability (Núñez, ). Consistent with this perspective, fMRI studies have found format dependent neural activation for symbolic and nonsymbolic representations (e.g., Cohen Kadosh, Muggleton, Silvanto, & Walsh, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shared and distinct neural circuitry for nonsymbolic and symbolic double‐digit addition

Bugden

Woldorff

Brannon

2018

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Symbolic arithmetic is a complex, uniquely human ability that is acquired through direct instruction. In contrast, the capacity to mentally add and subtract nonsymbolic quantities such as dot arrays emerges without instruction and can be seen in human infants and nonhuman animals. One possibility is that the mental manipulation of nonsymbolic arrays provides a critical scaffold for developing symbolic arithmetic abilities. To explore this hypothesis, we examined whether there is a shared neural basis for nonsymbolic and symbolic double‐digit addition. In parallel, we asked whether there are brain regions that are associated with nonsymbolic and symbolic addition independently. First, relative to visually matched control tasks, we found that both nonsymbolic and symbolic addition elicited greater neural signal in the bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS), bilateral inferior temporal gyrus, and the right superior parietal lobule. Subsequent representational similarity analyses revealed that the neural similarity between nonsymbolic and symbolic addition was stronger relative to the similarity between each addition condition and its visually matched control task, but only in the bilateral IPS. These findings suggest that the IPS is involved in arithmetic calculation independent of stimulus format.

show abstract

“…Through the observation, we can find that animal have the number sense in some degree (Núñez, 2017). However, with the common sense, we know that animals cannot figure out the advanced math problem such as advanced algebra.…”

Section: Review Of Quantity Representation: Exact Representation Of Smentioning

confidence: 98%

The Relation of Mathematics and Language Ability

Wang

Jiang²,

Zhao-Lan³

2017

ASS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How number is presented? Is it represented difference for different species? We first review behavioural and neuropsychological studies for the representation of different level of mathematical ability for animals, infants, lesion cases and images studies to demonstrate the relationship of mathematics and language. It can be included that 1) both humans and animals share an elemental number quantification system, which is without supporting by language ability; 2) the language ability is crucial to get higher mathematical ability. We then summarize the main research status for each line of studies. Finally, we outline recommendations for future research directions.

show abstract

Is There Really an Evolved Capacity for Number?

Cited by 139 publications

References 79 publications

Challenging the neurobiological link between number sense and symbolic numerical abilities

Challenging the neurobiological link between number sense and symbolic numerical abilities

Shared and distinct neural circuitry for nonsymbolic and symbolic double‐digit addition

The Relation of Mathematics and Language Ability

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About